


Teresa Antonia Moreno Delgado - Weston's Quirky Teacher of Art and Dance

by AugustStories



Category: Original Work
Genre: Best Friends, Boarding School, College, Friendship, Private School, Student teacher friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24236551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AugustStories/pseuds/AugustStories
Summary: Within a year she becomes one of the most popular and loved teachers in the Academy and it was no surprise at all on why she so quickly found her calling in a job that was as rewarding as it could be frustrating.How Teresa Delgado became Miss Delgado of Art and Dance.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character
Kudos: 1





	Teresa Antonia Moreno Delgado - Weston's Quirky Teacher of Art and Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [abadgerinthebluebox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abadgerinthebluebox/gifts).



> Another Oneshot leading up to a bigger story. This one has some minor spoilers for the actual story later one but I see them more as teasers instead of spoilers.
> 
> Written for one of my best friends.

**Teresa Antónia Moreno Delgado**

**-**

**Weston's Quirky Teacher of Art and Dance**

Teresa Antónia Moreno Delgado was born on a Monday night in Lisbon where she would grow up and spent a supported shelterd childhood. And once those childhood years floated over into teenage time and higher school, Tess had exactly one goal in mind for the forseeable future.

Yale.

It was going to be Yale.

Art and Dance were her life, the reason to live, the reason to work hard and harder to be able to follow her dreams.

Studying art in Yale.

\--

Goal reached, dreams changed.

That could be the summary of her first five months in New Haven. A good dorm room with a nice roommate, lots of new friends to hang out with, good professors.

And absolutely zero inspiration for any kind of project.

Tess spent more time helping fellow students with their project ideas than figuring out what she wanted for herself. She even found herself tutoring her roommate in subjects she wasn't even studying herself.

It all got a little out of hand.

She loved Yale, she loved New Haven, she loved college.

Art just suddenly didn't seem to be her future anymore.

And that epiphany threw her world out of its rails. No more plan. No more goal to reach for. No more strategy.

If it hadn't been for her favourite professor requesting a meeting with her to stage some kind of solo intervention, she might have been left reeling in freefall even longer. Jackson Frey talked with her and as the decision was made after an hour and a half, it felt like Tess should have known it from the start.

It felt natural.

She dropped her pure art degree and went for a combined degree in art and teaching.

And suddenly it felt like she could breathe again, and in every free second the pencil in her hand was never motionless, on every good weather weekend she was outside with her sketchbooks and her paints until the light disappeared.

She felt amazing.

\--

As an escape from the anxiety over falling into a creative blankness again, Tess picked up her dancing again and made it a rule to go to the small dance studio right off campus every day days for at least an hour. Or even longer if the weather was dreadful and gave her no chance to sit outside an draw.

It relaxed her, it made her happy.

And it kept her fit, and judging by her still lacking cooking skill and the abundance of fast food in the area, it really was necessary to have a kind of physical activity she actually liked doing.

And on such a day in Darren's Dance Studio, Tess was swept off her feet by Prince Charming.

Quite literally so.

Lost in the music and the movements of her body, she hadn't heard someone step into the smallest of the five dance halls the studio had. She didn't become aware of anything but the beat in her veins until she jumped and didn't land back on her feet but in the arms of a young man slightly taller than her.

She caught twinkling green eyes and grinned when he easily swung her around into another move, not losing a second of the beat as he effortlessly turned her solo into a duet. And it felt like he had been dancing with her for ages already.

When the song came to an end, Tess found herself staring in amazement at the young man who suddenly turned from confident to bashful where he was standing right in front of her. Green eyes so wide and happy. His hand twitched for a second and was only then stretched out.

"You wanna go again?"

She took his hand with a laugh.

\--

Prince Charming's name was Reuven Stein, he was a psychology major in her year and lived across the street from her apartment building.

They went to get coffee after dancing for another hour and Reuven became her first real friend in New Haven.

\--

"Wait, you can cook?"

Reuven glanced over his shoulder at her, one hand still up in the air to reach for the cupboard handle, he smiled at the dumbstruck look he must have spotted on her face, "Second hobby after dancing."

"Do you want to marry me?"

And Reuven laughed as finally got out the bowls and pans he needed.

That night he turned from Reuven into Ven, he turned from friend to best friend and roommate in the whole wide world.

\--

They became a team, going through life together and supporting each other through the ups and downs of their studies. Ven liked to sit outside with her when she was drawing or painting, reading his assigned books or working on his essays. Tess liked to be the guinea pig when Ven was in the mood for culinary experiments.

Quickly they knew how to get each other out of a funk, knew each other's ticks and types. She chased girls away who broke his heart, he gave judging eyebrows when she flirted with the wrong boy in a club again.

And on some days they danced until their feet hurt too much to even walk home.

\--

When it was time for the practical internship at a school, Frey surprised her with the opportunity of a lifetime. Tess had been dreading her choices for months, had whined to Ven for ages because she knew that art wasn't something most schools in America paid attention to. It was an often hated addition that public schools tried to get rid of again and again and private schools reluctantly accepted to brag with a wide range of activities for their students.

In her mind she was already stuck in some city high school where she was laughed at for wanting to make art a future and warned to never encourage kids to do the same. Ven had to basically drag her to Frey's office on the day when she would get the name and location of the school she would spent 4 months at.

4 months of potential hell.

What she got was one of the greatest experiences in her life until then.

\--

Ven didn't stop laughing and making jokes about prep school boys and little boys in uniforms the whole evening they spent celebrating down in the pub. Tess' constant reminder that he had been a private school kid himself fell on deaf ears.

Until she casually dropped the name of the private academy she was going to spent four precious month at as a teacher intern.

Suddenly Ven was green with envy and it was her turn to laugh about his spluttering face.

\--

Weston Noble Academy was located in a small town in Iowa, in green paradise, so much nature, so much peace, so much potential for incredible drawings. The director, Chester Simmons, was only a couple of years older than her, had only recently taken over the school and was in the middle of restructering a lot.

As it turned out Frey had been a Weston student himself back in the day and had proposed Tess as a candidate when Weston had popped up on the open internship list. Weston's current art teacher was a man almost in his eighties already who nearly fell asleep during the first meeting with Simmons in his office, and Simmons had been horribly embarassed.

And then he had told Tess she had utter free reign over the art classes for the next four months.

It was epic.

Weston supported all subjects, there was no question of money limit and Simmons reminded her almost daily that she didn't need to ask to have a project idea checked off.

The kids loved her.

And she loved teaching.

She had Seniors who were happy to do something crazy with paints to get rid of graduation anxiety and stress. She had Juniors who got so incredibly excited to turn bucket lists for Senior Year into some incredible art projects.

In her sophomore class, she met kids who were stuck in that really awkward phase of puberty and still showed so much respect and eagerness for the ideas she had to teach them art history. She enjoyed Cedric Bishop's humor and his unique brightness, clearly sticking out in his year and holding the admiration of fellow students. He couldn't draw for the life of him, but he still became one of her favourites.

Her ultimate favourite student, even though she never said it out loud, was a quick witted boy in her freshman year who caught onto her Portuguese roots within her saying exactly two words. Aiden Harwood was such an incredibly talented artist, pencil, paintbrush, chalk, it didn't matter what she set onto the table, he created magic. And she found great joy in nudging him into being proud about it, in believing that he had a real talent.

She had so much fun, couldn't wait to do this for real, to be a real teacher.

The boys even surprised her with paintings and drawings when it was time to say goodbye and Ven wouldn't stop pouting in jealousy when she showed them to him once she was back in New Haven.

\--

The last words Chester Simmons had spoken to her had been half order and half promise.

"Give me a call when you graduate. I need a new art teacher, and you're the right one for the job, Tess."

\--

The year she spent in Europe with Ven before their final thesis, and final exams and freaking out and stressing out over jobs and the goddamn future, was one of the most amazing experiences of her life. To see and live Europe again, to be right there where the art from her books was coming from, to breathe the ocean and the forest.

She showed Ven every single corner of her home country, or at least it felt like it. They travelled through Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany. They visited Sweden, Poland, Russia, Hungary and Romania. She fell in love with Vienna and Milan, she wanted to live in Rome and Venice forever. Paris felt like the greatest city in the world.

The culture, the history, the people.

The art.

But somehow, flying back to the US at the end of the year and driving back to her apartment in New Haven felt like coming home.

\--

Chester Simmons called her on a dreary evening in New Haven when Tess was debating whether or not she was thrilled enough about her first free evening without studies in months to go out and brace the rain to get to the club to dance.

And suddenly she had a job.

At the best school in the country.

\--

On her first day as a now certified and employed teacher, Tess still felt like that blindsided college student who had no idea what she was really doing, who had been terrified the students were going to eat her alive. Despite classes not starting up for another four days, she had already prepared everything twice in advance, had gone over her outfits for the Freshman Orientation and the first days of classes half a dozen times.

She was ready.

Only she felt like she had never been this unprepared for anything in her entire life.

And it started with the simple things. Despite the fact that according to Chester nothing had changed in Weston in decades, Tess couldn't find her way anywhere. The only one able to keep being stuck in her head was the short way from the teacher's quarters to the cafeteria, but that was her hunger keeping muscle memory alive.

Everything else was just a blur, despite the weeks she had spent in this school, despite knowing every corner by the end of her internship. It was like finals had wiped the memories from two years ago out of her mind. Chester was too busy with arranging things still for the new school year, and his three friends, the only teachers in this place even close to Tess' age were either busy with a small child or had not yet returned to Decorah.

And so Tess was lost.

  
Again.

And her phone had run out of battery so the school map was not an option as well.

She had only wanted to take a walk around campus to calm her nerves down again, and suddenly what she thought she would find after the turn had turned into something completely different. Thank god for students though.

"Miss Delgado??" A voice called out, surprise clear, and Tess turned around on the spot where she had previously tried to stare the tennis court into explaining her how she could get back to the chapel. She caught sight of a vaguely familiar face on the black haired boy walking towards her, no sight of the uniform still but an East T-shirt gave his affiliation away. And that bright smirk and those sharp if always grinning dark brown eyes his identity.

"Senhor Harwood." She smiled, stretching out a hand to shake the one Aiden Harwood held out towards her as he stopped in front of her, shifting a tennis racket to his left arm. "It is a relief to see a familiar face." She said in Portuguese and then laughed, Aiden Harwood grinned even more.

A relief it was though, honestly, it had been two years only, but the still wide eyed sophomores she had known then were going to be Seniors now ready to graduate in a few short months. And the skinny clueless and also at times terrified freshman had just made the jump into the upperclassmen league. Two years in high school were a lot, especially also for a teacher, seeing skinny little kids grow up, seeing still undecided young teenagers find their dreams and reach for them by going off to college.

For the students it seemed so much, like half a lifetime really until you finally graduate, for a teacher it was a blink.

And if Chester was to be believed, two years were enough to give you a gray hair.

She sure hoped that wouldn't happen to her.

But Aiden Harwood certainly was one to remember, the unusual high ego and confidence as a freshman was one thing, his reputation as a troublemaker another and his undeniable talent with a pencil or a paintbrush the foremost reason on why she could so quickly place his face. He had grown, filled out, he was now already taller than her by a bit and no longer looked like the kid whose ego was still bigger than the world but who still didn't know what to do with all those lean limbs.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Ma'am." Aiden began with a bright smile, raising his hand and waving over two students who were approaching from the treeline across the meadow. Tess would have recognized Cedric Bishop's swagger and his undeniable unique fashion fondness for bright colors everywhere, curly black hair a single wild mob. The tall lean boy at his side though seemed a stranger, curious eyes wandering over Aiden and her.

"I'm here to stay actually." She told Aiden who if possible began to grin even brighter still, blindly reaching and pulling Cedric to his side like a puppet. Cedric scoffed at him and pulled himself loose again, straightening out his shirt and flapping at Aiden for giving it wrinkles, the unknown other student stopped at Aiden's other side, short black hair, warm amber eyes, something tickled at the back of Tess' mind but she still couldn't place him.

"Guys, Miss Delgado is the new art teacher." Aiden made the connections and presented it as an announcement. Cedric Bishop began to smile, holding out a hand in greeting, Tess knew he loved the break from strict study shedules that art brought here at Weston, though he couldn't draw more than stick figures even if his life depended on it. "This year is gonna be awesome." Aiden decided and rubbed his hands together, Tess laughed and Cedric and the unknown boy shook their heads in fond amusement.

"Can we help you with anything, Ma'am?" The unknown boy wanted to know while Aiden slipped away into daydreams over art project, even after two years Tess would still remember the look in his eyes.

"Actually." She smiled and looked around again, "I don't know the way back to the teacher's quarters." She got out with the truth and then saw how tall boy and Cedric exchanged a look behind Aiden's back.

"Reluctantly enough I will sacrifice myself to be his bloody tennis partner." Cedric grumbled after it, earning himself an elbow to his side from Aiden, the other boy handed over the tennis racket he had been carrying, "But hurry back, Jaz. If he hits my perfect face, you will pay." And only Cedric Bishop could make that kind of vanity and arrogance sound sympathetic, but as the used nickname registered in Tess' mind she made a double take at the tallest of the three boys again.

Who she had guessed to be a Senior turned out to be a Junior with a suddenly familiar face, even if almost three heads taller. Jason Sedwick, the snarky little skinny runt who was always glued to Aiden's side looked so different that it was staggering. He finally looked like the leader of that litle trio that he had always been, a puzzle to her back in the day, considering that Alexander Dwelling and Aiden Harwood had both looked capable of eating their third friend alive.

"I will have to introduce you to my brother, Ma'am." Aiden added with a grin as the four of them walked up to the fork in the path to their left.

"There is more of you?" Tess blurted out before she could help herself and Cedric and Jason broke out into loud laughter while Aiden blinked a bit, "How does the world survive two of your kind?"

"Thankfully little Thad is a humble and decent human being." Cedric answered her and then pulled Aiden up the path to what Tess now assumed to be sports fields.

\--

A week later, Tess would meet Aiden's little brother, that shy smart kid with the hidden razor sharp wit who didn't share his brother's talent and love for art. Who could in fact not be any more different than his larger than life older brother, but who danced with a passion she knew so well herself. She would meet little Nick Duval with his bright smile and the sunshine in his eyes, so small but so much energy and happiness, and she would see how he became Jason's little brother. And she would meet Oliver Campton, would be shocked over the horrible assault just like everyone else on the staff.

And little scared Oliver Campton with the haunted eyes would change who she was as a teacher.

Because when she found herself scrolling through online books about photography one night a few weeks into the school year, her old notes from that one small photography class she had taken for extra credits on the couch table, right there and then she realized she had become a full blooded _teacher_. Staying up late to work extra, to built up a program for an after class project because there was a kid who needed her.

Olli was so touched with gratitude over the help and support she offered him for his talent with a camera that he was too speechless to utter a single word, still sitting in the wheelchair, bruises and cuts still healing on his body. Thad translated, even after only seven weeks already able to read his best friend's mind. Standing off to the side Julie would smile, and her new friend would tell her over coffee later that day that some people needed years to get to the understanding Tess had gotten in under two months.

"You're born to be a teacher. I think you're gonna do great here, help a lot of kids find themselves."

\--

She was gonna be right.

Aiden Harwood and Oliver Campton were only the beginning, but because they _were_ the beginning Tess would never really forget the experience.

Ten years down the line when she visited Oliver in his studio in New York, he would tell her that without her he would have never found the courage to make photography more than a hobby. Tess would smile and thank him for the gesture. By then teaching hadn't been a job for a very very long time for her, it was her life, it was her heart and soul.

\--

Aside from meeting students over the years who stood out to her, became her favorites and remained in her memory forever in some way, there were also parents who earned themselves a place to be remembered.

And none more than Susan Duval.

Both Duvals really, but as much as Jon loved his kids and supported them in everything they wanted to do, he was also the more practical kind of person. The boys' sport, the singing, science projects, those were something he could understand and follow in. Art wasn't his thing, and Tess understood, not everyone could feel creativity and art, but at least he supported it.

Susan was different, she was a dreamer and she loved her kids so deep and warm as only a true mother could.

The first time Tess met Susan Duval, Susan was pinching Aiden's left cheek and telling him he needed to be prouder of his art while Jason at her left looked like he could not possibly smile any brighter. It was Parent's Weekend in Aiden's and Jason's Junior Year, the first for the Duvals in Weston. And even while she was still approaching on slow feet, Tess was just incredibly amused how this small woman could so easily turn Weston's heartbreaker and troublemaker into a blushing little boy.

But as she soon would learn that ability was just one of Susan Duval's many superpowers.

"Miss Delgado!" Aiden called out the very second he caught sight of her, so happy to have found a distraction, but oh boy, don't think you'll get out of this one with her help. Tess smiled as she stopped next to Aiden, who quickly introduced her to Nick's mother, as if Tess had even still needed the help.

Mother and son looked so similar.

"Misses Duval, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a many great things about you already." And Susan shook her offered hand, smiling so sweetly like her young son could as well. Nick had the uncanny ability to turn the most stressful day full of heavy workloads less exhausting by beaming in raw happiness over a compliment and encouragment to continue on.  
"As did I, my boys can't stop talking about your class." Susan Duval told her and gently elbowed Jason in the hip, he grinned, not bashful at all, Aiden on the other hand was still blushing.

Tess blinked.

Plural?

Wait....what?

Her _boys_?

Jason shifted on his feet, embarassed, preferring to stare across the room instead of meeting anyone's eyes when the silence dragged on a little too long. Sure, there had been some hiccups with names in the beginning as always, but she would have by now realized if there was more than one Duval in her classes.

Right?

Thankfully her confusion had time to he worked through because Susan Duval swung herself into questions about her classes, her assignments and especially Aiden's drawings. Giving the taller boy absolutely no chance to slip away when she hooked her arm around his. Jason remained quite voluntarily until at some point Nick appeared and dragged him away, talking a mile an hour again.

Later that day Tess would sink into a chair at a table with Sadie and Chester out on the grounds, her feet hurting and her stomach demanding foot. Not far off, Julie was trying to convince Jamie to eat something else but cake but the two year old was shaking his head and resolutely continuing to point at the chocolate cake.

"If she gets a Songbird to eat a carrot in front of him, Jamie might as well." Tess said quietly and looked around more, Sadie snorted and then laughed, but knowing well enough that it was the truth.

"Didn't work with the Brussels sprouts last week." Chester noted and sighed when Zachary set a cup of coffee down in front of him and then sat down next to him.

"Yeah, well, who likes Brussels sprouts." Tess snarked and smiled when Nick raced by their table with a bottle of water in each hand.

She followed his path with her eyes and watched him approach the pushed together table under one of the oak trees. Susan Duval was sitting between Jason and Aiden on one side, Thad leaned so far over the table that he was almost lying on it while he showed her something on his phone. Nick scrambled into a chair and set the water bottles onto the table that was loaded with cups and food, and it was like everyone was talking to Susan Duval at the same time.

She didn't seem to have any trouble following though, she was listening to everyone at the same time, nodding here and there. Jon Duval and Chris Harwood were standing still, talking among each other and looking around. None of the four boys seemed even slightly interested in maybe exchanging Susan's divided attention to talk to them.

"She's not a mother, she's a Mom." Julie surprised Tess by suddenly speaking up next to her, setting down a plate with cake and another one with a salad on the table, Jamie was meanwhile clumsily climbing onto Chester's lap.

"What?" Tess wanted to know, eyes still locked onto the scene across the crowd of parents and kids enjoying lunchtime. Cedric Bishop had approached, face looking a little glum, but even he lit up like a christmas tree when Susan Duval stood up to hug him and then proceeded to push him down into the chair with determined hands, fussing over him.

"Susan Duval." Julie clarified, holding out a piece of cucumber to her scowling son, "She's not a mother, she's a Mom. It's not something a lot of these kids are used to." She said it as if it would explain everything, and a little further down the road Tess would understand.

For now though it was more important to laugh when Chester betrayed Julie's never-ending endeavors to have her son eat green stuff by breaking off a piece of chocolate cake and stuffing it into a still scowling's Jamie's mouth. A scowl that quickly turned into a grin as he chewed happily, leaning back against Chester's chest, Julie glared at Chester and then at her wife when Sadie laughed louder than Tess and Zach combined.

\--

The Duvals would become their very own Weston legend but all of that was a big story on its own still.

In her first year as a teacher already though, Tess would see Jason Sedwick become the very first Duval stray. The amazing kid whose parents couldn't see how great he was, who needed to turn eighteen before getting a Mom and a Dad.

She would see how the Harwood boys became more settled and calm with a Mom in their life. How Aiden's lacking confidence in his own art suddenly developed because a Mom was so in love with his creations. How Thad stopped hiding in his brother's shadow and began to show who he really was just because a Mom laughed about his dark jokes and had glowing eyes whenever he danced.

And then later on, how the Duvals welcomed scared little Jeff into their family with wide open arms, gave him the loving surroundings and base he needed to become strong again. How on their graduation day, Jason and Aiden didn't become emotional until Susan was crying over them being so grown up. How the Duvals just without a second thought caught the Harwood brothers after Chris Harwood's horrible murder. How they adopted this little baby girl because she had no one else in this world anymore.

How years on they already had such a big family, and still had room and love left to fight for Scotty Feigers little traumatized soul. How they opened their home to their boys' partners as well without hesitation.

Susan became more than a mother of a student, she became a friend.

And in some tiny little way, in advice over the phone and postcards exchanged over holidays, Tess got a Mom in her as well.

\--

One thing about living in Decorah that not even the amazing schools and the great kids could level out was missing Ven. Of course she got new friends and had fun, but she missed her best friend and his craziness.

Right until that moment of course when Ven decided that a surprise visit to freaking Iowa was apparently suddenly on top of his bucket list.

He had visited her before, but Tess had always made sure that it would be safely in the middle of school breaks, entirely convinced that Ven and her students wouldn't mix that well. She was dead center right with her assumption when Ven pulled off his surprise stunt in her fourth year of teaching.

In the aftermath, two days later to be precise, Olli and Thad explained to her just how it had gone down before Ven had found her at the lake. A few sophomores had gotten alarmed when they had found a stranger wandering through the school building with flowers in his hand, looking around and not talking to anyone. The inner school messaging system of the student body had exploded and soon enough students from all years and both houses with free periods had began to keep an eye on the stranger to see what he was up to.

One rumor shooting up crazier than the one before. And so on and so on.

Until the Songbird's leading trio put an end to it and told whoever was closest to approach and ask about the guy's bloody business or they would tell a teacher. Thad's, Olli's and Nick's order was followed immediately when Rick, fed up of being disturbed from studying in peace in the sun on campus, fired off a message that he was going to deal with it.

"TERESA!"

Which brought them to the moment at the lake where Tess had taken her Junior class for the nature project.

She froze in pointing out something to Jeff and Nate in their project while both boys leaned to the side to look behind her on either side of her. "Please don't tell me it's a hyped up brunet idiot in his late twenties waving a bouquet of dreadful pink flowers." She whispered and where Nate raised an eyebrow at her, Jeff grimaced, "Splendid."

Tess sighed and handed the sketch back to Nate before turning around, no one in her class was drawing anymore, that was for certain. She caught sight of Ven walking towards her, enormous bouquet of pink flowers in his right hand, Rick walking next to him, looking more than just mildly annoyed.

"Oh, Teresa!"

"Stop calling me that!" She hissed as she walked towards him, eager to have this greeting not in the middle of her students sitting by the lake, but Ven didn't care. Leaving Rick behind, Ven skipped towards her, right into the middle of her students' circle, Luca and Rico had to dug to not be hit in the face by his flowers.

"Surprise!" Ven declared once he was standing before her, and though she warned him with her eyes, he still lunged forward and picked her up.

"Ven, put me down this second!" She quickly protested and closed her eyes when he spun her around, his clumsy hands sending the flowers flying. The horrible bouquet landed right in poor Benny's face and Tess made a mental note to buy a lot of cookies next week.

"I just needed to wish you a Happy Birthday in person this year!" Ven went on without a care in the world, just a happy puppy wanting to make his friend happy. He set her down with a little too much swing and Tess already saw herself falling when Jeff caught her elbow and kept her on her feet. She thanked him and spent a moment surveying the scene before focusing on Ven. Nate had crouched down next to Benny, helping him pick flower petals out of his hair and uniform shirt. Tannent and some of his friends were picking up their fallen over easels and pencils.

And everyone was staring at them.

Especially Ven.

Big fat content smile on his face and big round eyes waiting patiently for a reaction.

Tess sighed again, rolled her eyes and hugged him more normally again. "Oh, you're an idiot. Thank you, Ven, but seriously? Never ever think about disturbing a class again, do you hear me?"  
"Where would the fun be in that? And come on, these boys don't mind. Right?" Ven smiled into the round and especially the West boys with the nearly ruined drawings didn't look that enthusiastic. Nate and Benny looked like there was a comment or two on their lips as Benny stood up and handed over what remained of the bouquet. Tess was relieved there hadn't been roses in it for once.

"Thank you, Mister Peyton." Tess told him with an apology in her eyes, Benny nodded at her and went back to stand slightly behind Nate. "You are free to go, boys, class is over for today, you know what your assignments are."

The boys went to pack up their things and Tess wacked the already destroyed flowers against Ven's arm, he pouted. "Oh my god." She told him in a whisper to not be overheard, "I am happy to see you but you just embarassed me so badly."

"I did not. That was romantic and adorable." He protested, flapping his hand against the flowers when she made to swing them again.

  
"You threw flowers into Benedict Peyton's face!" She reminded him of what had happened only a minute or so ago, Ven still smiled like a stupid amused dog.  
"Knew I recognized that face." He told her and looked around the students more or less rushing off with their things, a lot of them throwing looks around to them. Nate especially looked like he couldn't get away fast enough before someone might decide to throw more things into his boyfriend's face.

  
"Ven!"

  
"Yes, you're right, I should go apologize." Ven decided and she quickly reached out to hold him back, pressing her lips close for a silent scream.

"Stop right there. You're just gonna trip that kid or worse, stay right here." She told him and then turned around when Jeff called for her. He was holding out his phone when she came face to face with him.

  
"Should I call the witchhunt off?" Jeff asked with a grin while Tess quickly read over the student message chains telling a story of wild rumors and suspicions over Ven's campus journey. She groaned and reached up two fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose.  
"Please do, Mister Sterling."

When she turned back to Ven, he was still grinning like the sweetest cupcake.

\--

"I can't believe you did that." Tess said an hour later when they were sitting in the back garden of the ice cream parlor she called home still. Wonderful amazing giant ice cream cups on the table, it was her birthday, no better day than to treat oneself. "The boys are gonna talk about that for weeks now, and with my luck the girls are gonna get wind of it, too."

"Such a romantic gesture." Ven sighed in praise of his own skills and Tess fought down the urge to throw a cookie wrapper into his face.

"Romantic, right." She snarked, Ven looked at her with his stupid puppy eyes that she had missed so much, "Don't be surprised if you get a bill in a few months because Benedict Peyton is suddenly afraid of flowers and needs therapy." She reminded him of exactly whom of all people he had thrown the flowers at in her class.

"He can just come to me then." Ven had an answer for everything again and Tess found herself smiling despite the dry "Very funny" she threw at his head. Ven laughed and urged her to talk about what had happened since they had last talked on the phone, Tess very resolutely kept herself from mentioning Leopold even once, Ven would only jump at that way too hard and she still needed time to figure out her down damn feelings before dealing with his opinion on top of everything.

"So, I got big news." Ven told her after a while, the garden of the cafe wasn't so empty anymore, there even were some students from the Doras mingling about already.

"Oh?" Tess inquired and in preparation set her spoon down, knowing that it could be everything from a small big thing to a huge bomb, you never knew with Ven.

"I got a job, granted I survive the PhD insanity in two months of course." Ven got out with it and Tess gaped at him, heart filling with happiness that the glooming cloud of future panic had finally disappeared from over Ven's head when it came to job talking.

"Where, what?" She demanded from him and Ven leaned closer, voice all mysterious as he spoke.

"It's a new trauma institute. I've met one of the board directors on some conventions and he is really interested in my research. He wants me to join the pediatric clinic." He explained to her and Tess reached over to hug him, squeezing him tight in her joy. She could see how excited he was, dream coming true after so much hard work that he had put into it.

"And where is it?" She reminded him of her other question and Ven reached into his jacket with a grin, pulling out a folded flyer. He handed it over to her and sat back, taking a spoonful of cookie ice cream while Tess unfolded the glossy paper. And then she froze, froze for a very long moment before snapping her head up and staring at the smirk on her best friend's face, "Oh my god."

"I hope it's okay."

"Okay?" Tess nearly screeched, "You're gonna be so close again, Ven. Waverly is only one and a half hours away from here." He laughed and squeezed her hand, Tess dropped the flyer and jumped out of her chair, throwing her arms around Ven.

She had her best friend back.

\--

Weston gave its Seniors the chance to leave thank you notes for teachers the night before their graduation ceremony.

An old tradition.

On the night before graduation, starting at eight p.m. classrooms all over school would be opened and left unattended. Underclassmen and Juniors would know to keep away to give Seniors privacy. Notes or whole letters could be left anonymous or with the name of the author, that was a choice up to the Seniors to make.

The only rule was to remain respectful and polite.

Tess kept all of her notes. In a box in her small office by the art classroom. Long and short notes from all kinds of students, some even from those she would have never expected them from, but all of them were kind. Kind and thanking and wonderful, and they never ceased to make her smile even on the worst of days.

\--

"I was never good at art, I'm still not good at art and I don't think anything will ever change that I can't draw more than a stick figure and a horse that looks like an elephant with a giraffe neck. None of that mattered though in Your class. You didn't care if we were good at art, You just wanted us to give our best and have fun. I'm used to pressure and expectations from all sides, used to let a quick mouth and a hard smile deflect from not being good at something. I was always taught to be strong, strong and confident so that no one would ever see my flaws. Your art classes gave me an escape, a place to – and pardon my words here – a place to suck at an assignment and still not be looked down upon for it. You looked at my horrible stick figures and told me I have spirit, that is the first memory I have of You as a teacher. You didn't tell me I could do better if I only try harder, You just smiled and told me I have spirit and advised me to never lose it. I want to thank You for it because I will carry those words with me to New York, and I will try to not lose my spirit, no matter what happens. Thank You for being an awesome teacher, Miss Delgado." – Cedric Bishop

\--

"Thank You for being such an amazing teacher, Miss Delgado." – Benedict Peyton

\--

"Thank You for making art class enjoyable for me despite the color blindness." – Sage Richelieu

\--

"I got my first camera when I was five, and I loved taking pictures ever since, loved photography once I had the patience to pay attention to books. I just never thought that it could be something more than just a hobby. Especially not after what happened to me at the beginning of Freshman Year, the very last thing I would have ever expected was for someone to come around and give so much effort to support a single student. You have helped me so much over the years, and I will never be able to thank You enough for all the advice, all the time You spent just listening to my ideas, the contacts You have given me. Thank You for showing me that I could be more than I made myself believe. You are an incredible teacher, Miss Delgado." – Oliver Campton

\--

"Art was always something private to me. It calmed me, shut my head up and gave me a chance to think. Drawing, painting, it made me happy. It was my complete escape when everything got too much, and that happened more often than I was comfortable with. I didn't tell people I liked art and drawing until You came along in freshman year and realized with one look that I was holding back from showing my real potential. Not even Jason and Alex knew back then, not even my own brother knew how much I loved drawing in my sketchbooks.

I was so used to people looking at me and seeing the loud arrogant facade I kept up to protect myself, but You saw _me_. I still remember what You told me back then, that if I wanted to keep my art private, it was my right to do so, but that private didn't have to mean secret. You told me I had a real talent for it, that I should be proud about what I could create with a pencil or a paintbrush. I think I'm still working on that, believing that my art is actually good, but at least I stopped holding myself back from enjoying it.

Your classes were always one of the weekly highlights. I learned a lot, but to me it was even more important to have had the freedom to try things, to try out ideas and get advice. You were the best teacher I ever had, Miss Delgado, and no matter what college brings now, I will never let go of that love for art. I will never keep it secret again. You showed me how I could be happier with who I am, how I could be proud about something I was always too afraid to let myself have.

Thank You. For Everything." – Aiden Harwood

\--

Tess was putting boxes up onto the shelves in the archives, tidying up the chaos from another year of projects being simply put onto a heap on a table somewhere in the room off to the side from the art classrooms when someone knocked on the open door. She turned around and grinned when she caught sight of the young man in the gray Yale hoodie.

"Would you look at that, Aiden Harwood back in his old hunting grounds again." She laughed and gave the box one last push to let it slide to the back of the shelf before dusting off her hands and walking over to him. They shook hands before she huffed and hugged him briefly, "It's good to see you again, especially without that wild look in your eyes." She reminded him of her visit to New Haven in the spring when she had stopped by after catching up with some old friends. Aiden had been in the middle of finalizing projects for an exhibition, he had worn more paint on his face and hands than the canvas.

"Yeah, fun times." Aiden deadpanned and Tess snorted, stepping over to reach for another box to stack up on the shelf. Aiden walked over to the table as well, smiling over some drawings.

"Little brothers already annoyed?" She wanted to know, sighing when Aiden scooped the next box right out of her hands to put it up himself. Tess knew which fights to pick and going against the ingrained gentleman behavior of a Weston boy was not one of them.

"I haven't even found either yet." Aiden chuckled, "Cedric is snooping around to find anyone from East able to point him towards Jeff at least, maybe he'll find Scotty along the way."

"You're the only ones in town so far?" Tess asked and taped another box shut, Aiden took it from her and pushed it up on the shelf.

"Yeah, all on their way though. Whole clan expected to descend on Decorah this afternoon." He explained with an ominous tone in his voice, Tess rolled her eyes. "Jeff will still regret that he gave Mom free reign over inviting everyone she wanted."

"He's gonna love it. God, I can't believe it's time already that he's graduating. It feels like yesterday that I saw that skinny little kid hiding behind his hair." Tess sighed and Aiden laughed, leaning back against the shelf, "And now look at him, led the Songbirds to a Nationals title, he's gonna graduate and go to Harvard. And look at all of you. Jason and Alexander are engaged and acing college. Thad's boyfriend has a daughter. Nick is finally writing that book. Cedric is graduating and he's got that show, and you..."

"I sold my first painting, Tess." Aiden fell into her sentence and Tess dropped the box top she had been holding when she whirled around to stare at suddenly sheepish looking brown eyes. It was astonishing still to her how after all this time, Aiden still got so shy when it came to his art. "Professor Frey helped finalize the deal and all. Martin is a collector from New York, he saw my paintings at the spring exhibition and got in contact then."

"Oh my god, Aiden, that is so amazing." She called out and went to hug him again, "I am so happy for you. Which painting?" And Aiden started laughing for good, Tess was so proud of him, could see how much this meant to him, how he still couldn't believe it.

"The one I made of Cedric sleeping." Aiden answered her and Tess slapped her hand in front of her mouth when she laughed so hard that she had to snort a little. "Yeah, he loves it."

"Of course he does. Oh, I am so proud of you, Aiden, you deserve this so much." He ducked his head upon her words but at least he was smiling. She was stopped from saying anything more when a knock sounded on the doorframe of the archive again and they turned around to see Cedric leaning against the open door, usual bright clothes lighting up the whole room. "Cedric, it's so nice to see you again. You've come to take him away?"

"I found what we were looking for." Cedric grinned and pulled Scotty in front of himself, one arm around the boy's shoulders, Jeff stepped to his side, "We can go now and get lunch." Aiden shook his head in amusement but walked over to them and pulled Jeff into a hug before looking back to Tess again.  
"Thank you. For everything." He told her and Tess inclined her head to him with a smile, and then watched them leave, Scotty laughing when Aiden tickled him and Jeff groaning when Cedric asked him about his speech.

She loved being a teacher.


End file.
